Active Family Chiropractic

Empowering Your Health

Albany's Premier Biophysics Chiropractic Practice

Can CBP Chiropractic care help my balance?

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Losing one’s balance can happen to anyone. It could be any number of reasons why you or a loved one is losing their balance and getting a checkup with a CBP Chiropractor could help fix the issue.

Cause: Improper Alignment

CBP has helped a lot of people and their balance, especially older people who feel like they are off-balance. Balance problems sometimes come from the way that the spine is shaped. If your spine is very shifted to the right, gravity is going to pull you to the right and you will feel like you are going to fall over, especially as you get older and you start to lose some of the muscle strength that would normally right yourself.

Older people are always falling because they lose their balance, a lot of the time because their spine is shifted. So they are either falling forward because their head is forward and their body is pulled forward or they’re falling to the side because their spine is shifted.

Cause: Inner ear issues

Sometimes balance problems can come from the inner ear. Sometimes as people get older they have more ear wax buildup or they have nerve damage to their ear which can throw off their balance in a major way.

It really depends on what the problem is. If a person has been diagnosed with some type of inner ear problem, like damage to the nerve in the ear, then probably the adjustments won’t help with the balance issues. However, if it is something like impacted ear wax or pressure on the nerve from the neck area, where the nerves control the ear function, then absolutely the corrective adjustments can help.

Seeing a CBP Chiropractor can help you determine a course of action.

It’s just about finding out what’s wrong first. Finding out where the loss of balance is coming from. Is it coming from the inner ear, or a neck subluxation, or the way that your body is shaped? That is the first thing to figure out because then a CBP Chiropractor can figure out whether or not they can help. So start by making an appointment with your CBP Chiropractor and get a check-up. You don’t have to live with poor balance.

For more information ask Dr. B at [email protected].

What causes a muscle knot?

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What causes a muscle knot?

Muscle knots can come from a lot of different things. In terms of CBP, when you have poor spinal structure, subluxations, which are misalignments in your joints, can cause severe problems with your muscles. If your head is shifted all the way to your right then all the muscles on your right side will be shortened because the attachment sites are closer to one another. So everything on that side is going to get very short and tight. Then everything on the opposite side gets very stretched, elongated and weakened.

A poor spinal structure could be the root of the issue.

Depending on what structural problems you have, you could be overworking some muscles and underworking others. This is where a lot of muscle knots come from and it’s also where a lot of injuries come from. It is a muscular imbalance due to a bad spinal structure. It is also one of the most overlooked things by Physical Therapists, Osteopaths, Fitness Trainers, Massage Therapists, just about anyone in that world, they overlook the fact that spinal structure dictates muscular function. So that’s where muscle knots come from and that’s why you seem to get the same ones over and over again. Because your muscles are pulling unevenly due to what your structure is doing.

The issue could be a lack of stretching!

You can also get muscle knots if you don’t do proper mobilization after exercise. So say you go out to weed the garden, you’re pulling, tugging, bending, and twisting, your muscles are getting a workout but instead of stretching you go inside and flop on the couch. This will cause muscles knots. After any type of activity, you need to stretch. If you don’t all of the muscle byproducts, metabolic waste, that you just caused by using your muscles will settle into your muscles and cause muscle knots, instead of being flushed out of your system by drinking water and stretching.

Dehydration also plays a role.

The last thing that can cause muscle knots is dehydration. If you don’t have enough hydration in your muscles then the metabolic waste will stay in the muscles and that will give you even more aches and pains. It’s important to stay hydrated. You can become dehydrated even if you don’t think that you’ve done a lot of activity. Something like weeding a garden, even if you are not sweating, will dehydrate you.

How do I get rid of muscle knots? Where do I start?

In order to decrease and eliminate the frequency of muscle knots, it is important to stretch, hydrate, and above all else make sure your spine is in good alignment by getting regular check-ups with your CBP Chiropractor.

For more information ask Dr. B at [email protected]

Heat Management & Hydration

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It’s summer, time for BBQs and playing outside. It’s also the hottest time of the year. It’s important to think of your heat management and hydration.

Can CBP Help with Heat Management?

In Corrective Chiropractic care (CBP), the goal is to get your spine as close to structurally normal as possible, which keeps the least amount of pressure on your nervous system. Your nervous system controls your whole body. It controls your circulatory system, your vascular system (your veins and arteries), it controls all of the messages in your body, so just about every cell in your body is controlled by your nervous system, which is encased in your spine.

In terms of heat management, your thyroid gland has a lot to do with heat control. People who have thyroid problems they are either too hot all the time or too cold, there’s no in-between for them. A lot of times people who have nerve compression to the nerves that control the thyroid gland or to the kidneys, which have a lot to do with water and hydration, if they have any pressure on those nerves and those nerves are not working at 100%, there is potential for problems.

What about hydration?

This time of the year, when it’s super hot out people are reaching for cold beverages, that aren’t necessarily water. They may be going for an iced coffee, iced tea, or a frozen drink, which is essentially ice, sugar, and potentially dairy. During hotter times, people could be reaching for ice and alcoholic beverages such as beer, because they think it cools them down. In fact, drinking something cold when you’re hot is counter-intuitive, because it can actually cause your body to shut down. If you’re hot you should be drinking luke-warm water or a luke-warm beverage. Beverages like coffee, tea, beer, and other alcoholic beverages take water out of your cells, which makes you more dehydrated. In order to stay hydrated, you want to steer away from these on hot days.

In order to stay hydrated, you need to consume about half your body weight in ounces. If you decide to have coffee or iced tea or even a beer make sure that you drink an additional 8-12 ounces of water per drink to counteract the dehydration effects of caffeine and/or alcohol. Also, make sure to add more water also if you are sweating.

How can dehydration effect me?

If you become dehydrated you will have the potential for your body’s systems to stop or to slow down. This can cause mental confusion, headaches, generalized aches and pains, and lethargy. It can also lead to kidney failure or diabetes if you don’t have enough water.

Along with water, it is important to have an electrolyte balance in your water. If you use a water source like a Britta, which filters out everything from your water, you can go to your health food store and by mineral drops, which you can add to your water. Make sure to stay away from drinks like Gatorade which is basically sugared colored water with salt, it does not have enough active electrolytes to be effective.

You can also find electrolytes in the foods you eat, such as bananas, oranges, and spinach. You want to look for foods that contain potassium, magnesium, and sodium. Eating these foods can help to replace lost electrolytes as well.

Taking care of your spine can help you manage the heat better.

If your nervous system, at the get-go, isn’t working well, because you are not getting your spine adjusted by a CBP chiropractor and you’re not having enough hydration on top of that, you’re going to have a really hard time managing heat. However, if you have regular CBP adjustments and drink a good source of water with electro-lights, you’ll find that you’ll be able to tolerate the heat much better than you had before.

Why do older people see their health decline after a fall?

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We hear it all the time, “Grandma was doing great until she took that spill and within two weeks her health wasn’t the same.” Why is that? Do you become more fragile the older you become? In a way, yes, but you can do some things to help strengthen your bones so you’re not as brittle as you get older.

Why do we see a number of older people decline in health after a fall?

This isn’t true for all. There are some older people who fall all the time and are just a little bruised. It’s been found that when an individual takes care of themselves, in particular, their spine, on a regular basis, they will have a better quality of life.

A healthy 70-year-old vs. an unhealthy 70-year-old.

Usually, when you hear about people who are “wiping out and dying” from bone infections, for example, they are not healthy, to begin with. If you look at two, 70-year-old seniors. One has exercised their whole life, eats as well as they possibly can, has plenty of social interaction, and gets adjustments on a regular basis (at least once a week). That person is going to have a faster recovery and be less prone to infection because their immune system is stronger by the nature of their choices. Also, because their spine is used to being adjusted and is stronger they will be more resilient to injuries if they fall.

So that 70-year-old will heal faster and have less chance of infection than a 70-year-old who doesn’t exercise, doesn’t eat right, sits around, doesn’t have any social interactions, doesn’t get adjusted, and doesn’t take care of themselves. That is when you see people who are unhealthy, to begin with, they have a major trauma and they just get a bone infection because their immune system is lower, to begin with. A lot of times its just food choices. Many seniors make poor food choices, for example, they may just eat toast and tea and that’s it. They don’t eat vegetables or fruits, they don’t eat any good repair sources of protein. Their immune system is trying to fight off all kinds of things and they aren’t giving their bodies the resources to help the immune system function correctly. So then when that 70-year-old falls it really complicates things and sends the immune system into overdrive and it cannot cope.

The power of CBP

Dr. B has a patient in her office who is 82 years old. This winter she was outside by her mailboxes and she had a fall on the ice. She fell on her left hip. Naturally, everyone thought she broke her hip. She went to the doctor to get checked out but nothing was broken, she only had a few scrapes, no strains or sprains. Everyone was so surprised that she was not more badly hurt because she is older. But if you look at her as an individual, she raised 7 children so she was always active throughout her life, she has a very active social life, she eats healthy, and she gets a CBP adjustment once a week. She is an example of someone who could have easily fractured her hip because it was a bad fall, but she takes care of herself and eats well and came out relatively unscathed.

Can a fall wreak havoc on your body at any age?

Yes, you see it with children too.  There are some children who have an odd fall and then develop a problem. For example, a child could be playing in gym class, lose their balance and fall which results in a fractured arm. That might just be a fracture but there have been incidents when an auto-immune disease developed from that fall. Sometimes traumas do create disease processes because of how impactful it is to your body.

However, the healthier you are and the more resilient your spine it the less impact a fall will have on your immune system. So it’s important to set up a check-up with your CBP chiropractor so that your immune system is functioning at it’s highest levels. If you don’t have a CBP chiropractor stop into Active Family Chiropractic and make an appointment to see Dr. B and start the road to optimal health at any age.

For more information ask Dr. B @ [email protected]

I noticed that I’m sick less when I get adjusted regularly, why is that?

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Do you see a CBP Chiropractor? Have you noticed that you are sick less than you have been in the past? Ever wondered why? It’s because regular adjustments help to boost your immune system.

Why is that?

Getting adjusted helps to increase all body functions, all body systems, and that includes your immune system. Any time you get an adjustment, white blood cells are released into your bloodstream. White blood cells help to fight bacteria, infection, and stress in the body, so it’s very important that you keep your immune system strong and one of the best ways of doing it is to get regular spinal adjustments.

I’ve also noticed I have experienced fewer allergies.

This will also help with seasonal allergies, which is an overstimulation of the immune system to a stimulus. If you are having seasonal allergies it is usually because you have an over-reaction of your immune system. The idea of getting adjusted regularly will help your immune system to work more properly so that it can handle an allergic stimulus a lot better than without.

How do adjustments work, exactly?

Adjustments help your nerves have less pressure on them. Your spinal nerves come from your spinal cord which is encased in your spine itself, in the bones. So if you have pressure from a misalignment on your spine it’s going to prohibit your nerves from working at 100% and that’s going to make your immune system work twice as hard and it will affect your body’s function. If you are taking care of your nervous system all other systems will function better and you will be sick less and experience fewer allergies to name some of the benefits.

Can I also use holistic methods to prevent sickness and allergies in addition to getting adjusted?

There are many natural remedies for sickness and allergies as long as you make it a priority to get adjusted regularly. Herbal teas can help with allergic reactions as well as herbal elixirs such as elderberry syrup, which is antiviral and high in antioxidants. No matter what you do make sure that you schedule an extra appointment with your CBP Chiropractor when you feel a bit run down, you’ll be surprised by the extra immune boost you’ll get from it.

For more information ask Dr. B at [email protected]

 

Why Won’t My Child Sit Up Straight?

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All of us has been told as a kid to sit up straight. Did you find it impossible to do? It always seemed more comfortable to slouch, doesn’t it? However, you always see parents telling their children to sit up straight.

Why won’t my Child Sit up Straight?

A child won’t sit up straight for a number of reasons. Usually, it’s because the child has something wrong with the structure of their spine. Because of that, it is impossible for them to sit up straight, no matter how much you try to encourage them to do so. A lot of the habits they do every day, such as using handheld devices, playing video games, sitting slumped at school, all those things can lead to bad posture habits. However, usually, they stem from the structure itself, because we know structural abnormalities start in-utero. They can also happen at birth.

That is why we encourage parents to have their babies and children spinally assessed because they are acquiring subluxations at birth which can influence their posture, which can then influence how they present themselves later on in life as young children, teenagers, and adults.

Are there any exercises that my child can do to help them sit up straighter?

You want to encourage your children to have good posture as they are growing. However, most adults don’t know what good posture is. You see it every day. Parents let their children sit slumped while playing games or using their handheld device for hours on end and don’t realize that this is bad for them. The first step is to understand what normal is and the only way to know what normal is is to see a CBP chiropractor and get a check-up. Regardless of whether or not they have pain every person should have a spinal check-up because that is how you learn what “normal” is. That is how you learn how to identify good posture versus bad posture, not only in yourself but in others.

Is there potential for a child’s growth to be stunted from poor posture habits?

Yes, you can see that the child may grow unevenly. One leg could be longer than the other or their bones will grow in the direction of which they are slumping. Now we’re seeing because of the influx of handheld devices, forward head position on a lot of young children that never existed before. Because these kids have never spent so much time looking at these devices before, it’s actually pulling their head forward and creating structural changes. This is something that previously had only been seen in adults.

How can we correct this?

The first thing to do would be to bring your children to see a CBP Chiropractor for a check-up. Having an understanding of how your child’s spine is structured is very important to identify any structural abnormalities. Knowing to restrict time on handheld devices and encouraging your children to have good posture should be in addition to your CBP care, so make an appointment today.

For more information contact Dr. B @ [email protected]

How do I continue my CBP care while traveling?

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Wouldn’t you rather look like this…

Instead of this? 

How do I keep up my CBP care while traveling?

There are Chiropractors who practice CBP worldwide, with the exception of maybe some rural parts of the world, you would be able to locate a doctor to take care of you while you travel. A great resource is www.idealspine.com. This resource allows you to locate CBP Chiropractors in whichever area of the world you are looking to travel to.

You can always find a CBP chiropractor if you wish to continue your CBP adjustments while traveling. It’s a simple phone call to the CBP office in the are you are looking to travel to and tell them what you’ve been doing with your CBP doctor and they should be able to see you. Because CBP doctors speak the same language it is really easy to send a patient to another CBP doctor for care.

When in doubt exercise & stretch.

The second part is the keep up your exercise routine. Your CBP doctor will have given you some regular exercises to do on a daily or weekly basis. By maintaining these exercises you are maintaining your treatment, especially if you are not able to make it in to see a CBP doctor. If you are not able to do the exercises at least stretch. Especially if you are doing excessive walking or sitting, you want to make sure that you are stretching after every day. If you find yourself on a long flight, make sure to take frequent bathroom breaks, so that you can stretch. Being compressed for a long amount of time is not good for the spine.

Don’t forget about your traction device.

If you have a home traction device that the doctor has provided for you, make sure that you bring it with you because you can do those exercises anywhere and although the units may be bulky they are extremely light and portable. This way you can continue to do your home exercises.

Try to stick to your routine from home.

Make sure that you reign in your diet. You do not want to be eating sugar every night. People tend to use vacations as an excuse to overindulge. However, if you maintain your diet and stay fairly consistent your spine will thank you for it. Try to be mindful of what you are eating and make sure that you are drinking enough water.

Having a good water source is important. If the water where you are is not potable, make sure to load up on bottled water or stock up on iodine tablets which will help purify water. People tend to become dehydrated when they travel, which leads to swelling of the extremities and compression of the spine. Try to drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If you find you’re sweating you will need to drink more.

You’re going to be sitting and standing and walking and doing things that you may not normally do so there is going to be some bodily response to that. However, you can minimize it by continuing with some of your routines. Talk to your CBP Chiropractor and work out a travel plan together.

For more information talk to Dr. B at [email protected].

 

Is My Spinal Condition Genetic?

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Is my spinal condition genetic?

Have you ever wondered if you were predisposed to a certain health because of your genetics? Unfortunately, new studies have found that your health issues may be influenced by your environment rather than your genetics.

Some spinal conditions are genetic. Very few though, only 10% of the overall diseases are genetic. There is a new branch of science called Epigenetics, and they’re studying gene strands, not just the genetic sequences. They are looking at breaking every person down to their gene sequences and they are discovering that just like your DNA is individualized, that the patterns of the genes are also individualized. So the chances of a parent passing down a genetic disease are very rare. However, we do see that there are 10% of disease processes that are genetically traceable.

What diseases do CBP Chiropractors look at?

In the CBP Chiropractic world, we look at some of the common ones like scoliosis, which has a genetic component to it. Rheumatoid (an autoimmune disease that affects the joints), metabolic (include diseases such as gout are directly or indirectly the result of infections), and psoriatic (which can develop from psoriasis) arthritis have genetic components to them. Most cancers and things like that have no genetic disposition. So spinal things aren’t passed down from generation to generation but we do also see is that posture habits exist.

What are some of the factors that cause my condition?

So you’re all sitting on the same crappy chairs as your parents that need to be replaced or you’re sleeping on hand-me-down furniture because it was given to you by your grandparents. Those choices that you make, whether it be through your spinal care, your diet, your exercise, whatever your parents do, they influence what you do as an adult. That’s how you start to see those spinal degeneration patterns come in.

For example, people with high blood pressure may think it’s genetic, however, it is because you were not exposed to a proper diet as a child and you may have had a diet full of salt and now you’re having trouble. Or your parents smoked around you, so now your arteries are already calcified, that was not your choice. Most of these issues are environmental or it’s self-inflicted, that is where most of these disease processes come from, except for 10%. People can’t blame their “genetics” anymore for the ills of their own health.

Can I reverse years of poor habits?

It all starts with a visit to your CBP Chiropractor. Once you have had a check-up the doctor will be able to identify what has been causing your spinal issues and develop a strategy to help you optimize your health, naturally. Living a healthy lifestyle, eating right and exercising can also help you to reverse some of the damage done. Either way, it is best to meet with a CBP doctor and start your path to health.

For more information talk to Dr. B at [email protected]

 

What is the definition of health?

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CBP Definition of health.

The definition of health for everyone is different. If you ask the general populace to write down what their general definition of health is, a lot of people would write down, not having any pain, which is a very limited view of health. In Chiropractic Biophysics they promote 100% nervous system function as being healthy. If you have 100% nervous system function then your body should work at 100% as well.

Along with that, you have to make sure that you are exercising. You also need to make sure that you are hydrated with a good source of water. That you make sure to minimize and manage stress. Lastly, you need to make sure that you are eating properly for your body. That means finding out what fuels you better and on the reverse what drags you down.

Health is very different for everyone and it is up to each person to individualize and really think about what it means to be healthy for them. Then they have to figure out what steps they need to take to make that happen.

How do you achieve optimal health? 

Always start with your spine because that controls your whole body. Having a spinal check up done with a  CBP chiropractor, which is a complete exam and x-ray analysis.

Once any structural issues are addressed the next step would be to stay with whatever you can stay consistent with. If adding extra water to your body every day is what you can do then start there until it’s a habit. If exercise seems more doable, start there. You have to start with baby steps and commit to them. Don’t add anything until you have done them regularly for about a month’s time before you add something new and then you can be consistent with it. Otherwise, you’ll get overwhelmed if you try to change everything at once and then you won’t do anything.

Health is very different for everyone and it is up to each person to individualize and really think about what it means to be healthy for them. Then they have to figure out what steps they need to take to make that happen.

And as mentioned earlier the first step is to make an appointment at a Chiropractic BioPhysics office. Get your spine checked and start the path to optimal health.

For more information contact Dr. B at [email protected].

What is whiplash?

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Have you ever been in a car accident and your neck tightens up and starts to ache? You could have whiplash. How do you know if you have whiplash or just a neck ache?

What is Whiplash?

Whiplash is a medical term that has been given to somebody who has been, in most instances, in a motor vehicle accident where they are rear-ended. Their head is whipped forward first and then into a quick backwards movement. It’s very easy to get whiplash it only takes a trauma of 5 miles an hour!

Can you get whiplash in other ways besides in a car accident?

People can also whiplash themselves with bicycles accidents or sports injuries, such as lifting weights really fast which can whiplash the neck. There are lots of ways you can get whiplash, however, the idea is that the actual neck structure gets whipped forward and into a backward motion quickly. Unfortunately, that results in a lot of neck muscle injury and the neck muscles get very traumatized and sore. In these instances, the patient just has to rest and let the muscles heal.

A big misconception is that the muscular issues that arise from whiplash cause spinal tension or spinal subluxation. You can get a subluxation from tight musculature after an accident but it is not something that is typically the cause of subluxation. Usually, your spine will dictate what your muscles are doing so if your spine gets a subluxation then your muscles will become irritated. Whereas whiplash is one of those things where the muscle is actually pulling violently on the structure which can absolutely cause a subluxation.

Should I see a CBP Chiropractor after an accident?

It’s very important for people who have been in a car accident to be evaluated by a CBP Chiropractor. Even if it was years ago, it can actually change the shape of your spine which can be very dangerous. If you change the structure of your spine in a whiplash you can put pressure on your nerves and your body function can deteriorate. It can prevent your range of motion permanently depending on how severe the accident was.

There are patients that see Dr. B who have had whiplash accidents from years ago who still have troubles from them specifically with symptoms such as allergies and asthma. Each person reacts differently.

Make an appointment.

No matter if you have been in a car accident or maybe you just got hit in the head with a pillow by a friend, many of us have experienced some form of whiplash in our lifetime. It is important to get a checkup by a CBP Chiropractor. Seeing a CBP doctor will help correct imbalances in your structure so that you can live a healthier life and that pain the neck will go away.

For more information ask Dr. B @ [email protected]

 

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